“In a world, where external wounds are dealt with such care, I believe ailments of the mind would be treated with due attention as well. I speak of this as someone, who’s gone from being completely unaware of mental health to now understanding how big a role it plays, after battling some major wars within.

It all started the day, a junior got admitted in the hospital to tackle an intense bout of Dengue. What initially started off as a fever quickly overtook her organs and after a week of struggle we were informed of the gut-wrenching news of her demise. Shocking at every possible level, that incident sent me into a spiral of anxiety almost immediately.

I couldn’t sleep for 18 days straight and the severity of it had my entire family worried. There were moments when I would break down at the sight of a sleeping dog because I wasn’t able to doze off so peacefully, no matter how hard I tried. Now alongside that, my health anxiety additionally started taking a toll; I’d shiver in panic even for a mild fever. In the end, the perfectly happy child that I’d been known as, completely changed, resulting in the birth of a hypochondriac with uncontrollable levels of fright.

And I really mean uncontrollable, in the sense that no amount of effort put into keeping things calm and under check, ever worked. Even when a bunch of my siblings took an abrupt 10-day break from their respective work schedules and got me out on a vacation, I was still suffering from Insomnia. One good thing, however, was that, after a desperate attempt at all possible remedies, I knew for sure that it was time to seek professional help.

And in hindsight, it was probably the best decision ever! Of course, everyone around were initially skeptical but I wouldn’t blame them, for I was equally unexposed to the whole concept of mental well-being before going through this rollercoaster in my life. Nevertheless, the two people who stood rock-solid by my side throughout the process were my sister and my boyfriend. While the former was supporting me day and night from Dublin, the latter took an unexpected break from a major point in his career just to handhold me through the phase.

Now gradually, with time, my sessions with the psychiatrist worked and the progress felt rewarding than ever before. Finally, after almost two years of turmoil, I’ve come out a much stronger person today, viewing the world with a lot more empathy than earlier. And my goal, going forward, is to use this journey to impact others around with more kindness, for that’s what the world really requires!”